The newly-launched Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone powerhouse has already gone up for pre-order in Italy, sporting a price tag of €394.90 (about $530).

The Xiaomi Mi4 has stirred quite some waves on the smartphone market, as it boasts top-of-the-line specs and features but costs only a fraction of the price of other flagships with comparable specs.

Xiaomi's Italian distributor started taking pre-orders for the Mi4 on its website, ahead of an expected launch sometime next month. It's worth pointing out that the first versions of the smartphone, including the one available for pre-order in Italy, do not support 4G LTE. Xiaomi has yet to provide details regarding when the LTE-enabled Mi4 will become available.

For those unfamiliar with the device, the Xiaomi Mi4 sports a 5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels at a 441 ppi pixel density and, according to the manufacturer, it's the fastest smartphone in the world. The Mi4 packs a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor under the hood, clocked at 2.5GHz and paired with Adreno 330 graphics and a hefty 3GB of RAM.

The Xiaomi Mi4 model available now for pre-order in Italy comes with 16GB of internal storage capacity, while a 64GB variant is available in Asia. Other specs include a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front facing shooter, both boasting sensors from Sony. A 3,080 battery keeps things up and running.

Judging by the specifications it packs, the Xiaomi Mi4 is a real powerhouse that is able to stand up to any high-end Android rival, including the HTC One M8 or the Samsung Galaxy S5. And while other top-notch flagships come with prices to match, the Xiaomi Mi4 is very affordable considering what it has to offer. On the downside, Xiaomi only makes some devices available through third-party sellers outside the Asian market, just like it is the case with the Mi4's availability in Italy.

It remains unclear at this point just when the Xiaomi Mi4 will officially hit retail and in which other markets it will become available, but we'll make sure to keep you up to date as soon as more information becomes available. In the meantime, interested buyers in Italy can now pre-order the smartphone at this link. The smartphone is available in black or white color options, and the product page says it will ship in 15 days.